General Assembly passes bill limiting insulin copays
The General Assembly approved legislation (2021-S 0170B, 2021-H 5196A) sponsored by Sen. Melissa A. Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) and House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly) to limit insured patients’ copays for insulin used to treat diabetes to $40 for a 30-day supply. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk.
Assembly OKs expanded access to telemedicine coverage
The General Assembly approved legislation (2021-S 0004Baa), 2021-H 6032Aaa) sponsored by Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Joshua Miller (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence) and House Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Stephen M. Casey (D-Dist. 50, Woonsocket) to expand telemedicine coverage requirements for insurers and require that all Rhode Island Medicaid programs cover telemedicine visits visits with health care providers via telephone or audio-video enabled device.
Rhode Island Senate approves bill to remove spousal exemption from rape law thenewportbuzz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenewportbuzz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The legislation would ban intentional, simultaneous releases of 10 or more balloons into the air.
All released balloons, including those falsely marketed as biodegradable, end up as litter on our waterways and landscapes. Animals, attracted by their vibrant colors and shapes, mistake them for food, causing injury or death to countless sea and land creatures each year. Balloons are also a nuisance to commercial fishermen and can even cause power outages when they tangle with power lines.
According to Save The Bay, the plastic remains of 503 balloons were found along Rhode Island’s shoreline during the September 2019 International Coastal Cleanup.
Representative Donovan, an avid kayaker who represents a coastal district, has witnessed these dangers firsthand. A few years ago, while kayaking on the Sakonnet River off Portsmouth with a friend, she encountered a seagull entangled in the string of a balloon. She captured the gull, which was injured and suffering, and used some nail cl